1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a system for selective, individual display of posters from a set of posters by successively positioning them behind a display window.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applications for this system notably include the advertising field, or that of road signs and information.
It can be used in a stationary fixture, for changing message (or other views) billboards.
It can also be used on board vehicles, in which case the display windows for advertising messages are provided on the sides and/or rear of a van-type vehicle.
In this type of system, posters are generally put end to end on a flexible support in order to constitute a single long strip.
It can be an endless strip, as provided for in documents FR A 1 051 852, FR-A-2 579 810 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,530,888, for example.
According to other possible implementations, such as those described in FR-A-2 692 395, FR-A-2 152 012 and W0/9203813, a relatively short strip is provided, wound on drums at each end.
The long strip scrolls down in front of the display window. Strip position is controlled and driven so as to bring the selected poster immediately behind the display window, thereby making it visible to viewers, i.e., the public in the case of advertising.
In the first four documents mentioned above, the display system is fitted on an advertising vehicle.
The display sequence control can be easily piloted by a programmable controller or a computer. Appropriate control means such as opto-electronic detectors cells and/or mechanical detectors connected to the system ensure its correct operation.
In existing devices, the posters are in single file, in a pre-determined order, meaning that they will be displayed in that order through the display window.
This raises a problem when the display sequence does not correspond to that order.
Therefore, if two non-neighbouring posters are to be displayed successively, the one or those between them must be scrolled as blank views behind the viewing window. This creates unsatisfactory viewing conditions when the posters are in motion. Moreover, the blank displays take up part of the total viewing time.
In this respect, it should be noted that an advertising contract between an advertising contractor and the client, can specify varying display cycles for the different posters. Thus each poster can be assigned a frequency and display time, which can be modified over time.
The order in which given posters pass can also be determined, especially when the ideas of two or more posters are linked, as in the case of xe2x80x9cprogressivexe2x80x9d advertising campaigns.
These successive display requirements are difficult to accommodate with a set of posters secured end-to-end, as in the current state of the art.
Document FR-A-388 854, titled luminous advertising equipment, corresponds to a display device containing a set of screens (bearing advertisements) hanging in vertical, parallel planes which can be possibly and successively displayed in the same space. The posters are stowed by winding onto a roller located in the upper part of the device. The set of rollers is driven by a single drive shaft, via a motion transmitting mechanism ensuring that while one screen is being wound, the next screen begins to descend, and so on for the entire set, in a determined order.
Thus in the existing device the various advertisements are shown in an unchanging, predetermined order.
The invention aims at resolving this difficulty by proposing a displaying device of the type mentioned above, in which display of a selected poster can be freely chosen, not only in terms of frequency and duration, but also for the order in which it will be displayed.
The equipment covered in the present invention provides an individually selectively displaying of various posters of a set, by positioning them successively in front of a display window.
As in device described in document FR A-388 854, each of the posters is secured to a flexible backing at least partially windable onto a rotary receiving drum, a control assembly being provided for selectively positioning said poster in a stowed position in which it cannot be seen through the display window, and in an operative position in which it is aligned with said window, and the various posters lie in separate slightly spaced apart parallel planes.
The above objectives are achieved, according to the invention, with a device comprising a set of various flexible posters and a set of rotary drums on which the posters are respectively at least partially wounded, a display window and means for positioning each poster of the set in one of a stowed position in which it cannot be seen through the display window and an operative position in which it is aligned with said window and in which the posters which are in the operative position lie in slightly spaced apart parallel planes, the positioning means comprising a set of motors each associated with a respective receiver drum, and comprising a programmable control assembly able to send independent control signals to the motors so that any display order can be achieved through programming the control assembly
Of course, the device is designed so that when a poster is in a stowed position, neither the elements making up its support, nor the poster itself will hamper the display of other posters in operation.
Moreover, according to a number or additional, advantageous, non-restrictive features of the invention:
the flexible support includes a flexible strip wound around the receiver drum and extended at display window height, by a pair of lateral straps;
the two straps are connected by a crossbar used to secure the poster;
the poster is attached both to this crossbar, remaining removable and to the transversal edge of the flexible strip;
the device contains means of tensioning the flexible strip;
the bar is attached to a pair of stretcher cables wound onto automatic return pulleys;
at the exit of the receiver drum, the flexible strip passes over a countershaft roller;
this countershaft roller is tapered at both ends, with its diameter slightly larger in its middle, so that the strip is kept well-centered;
the display window is vertical, while the horizontal axes of the drums and the countershaft roller, as applicable, are set parallel to the window""s main plane, located in a box at the top of the window; in this case, the return pulleys have advantageously a horizontal axis and are located in a box at a bottom of the window.
The invention also covers advertising vehicle equipped with at least one such device, as defined above.